I Like You
by DragonGamer0713
Summary: Rule Fourteen of the Rules of Love series. Metallica and Rusty are the only Metal-elemental dragons in Warfang and their best friend is a black-scaled dragon named Xandalore. When they discover the fabled "Hybrid" dragon who works for the Guardians, Metallica cannot help but feel inspired by him, despite his mixed-blood. Legend of Spyro after the Fall of Malefor. OC dragons.


**I Like You**

"Come on, Rusty!" Metallica growled as she rushed after her older brother through Warfang. She hated being left behind, especially by Rusty. The two dragons were orphans, raised on the streets of Warfang, making a living by being steel-workers.

Steel is in their blood, after all.

"Aha, you need to be faster than that!" Rusty laughed as he darted through the crowed streets with flawless dexterity and speed. The dark silvered dragon rushed past dragons of every shape and color, zipping and dodging moles working on construction and other trivial tasks. Cackling like a loon, he jumped over a giant wagon and took flight, followed very closely by his sister.

"I will kill you, Rusty!" she growled as she reached for him with her claws, her wings beating hard to keep up.

The second her claw scratched his tail, he smirked and suddenly free-fell down into the Warfang fountain in the square.

She sighed as she hovered above it, "You are a pain in my tail, Rusty."

He emerged from the water, grinning ear to ear at his sister, "Oh, Metallica, you know I force you to do your best because I care about you." He climbed out and quickly shook the water off his scales.

Older dragons who saw the free fall only rolled their eyes. "Troublemakers..."

"Why do we keep these abnormal dragons here?"

"You know they're the only dragon steel workers," another one hissed at his buddy. "They help make our battle armor."

"Damn straight!" Metallica barked at the older dragons that judged them, "It's thanks to us, that you are protected during war!"

The dragons looked away and went back to their daily lives. Rusty and Metallica are indeed, the only Steel colored dragons in the city. But because of their weird color and uncanny ability to shape and harden metal has given their irreplaceable places in the blacksmith shop. However, this doesn't stop a lot of dragons to point out their "uniqueness", for a lack of a better term. Black dragons get the same Schick, because most fall evil or are masters of the dark arts, which are taboo by society.

The only black dragon still remaining in Warfang was a rebel youth named Xandalore, slightly younger than Rusty and Metallica, but old enough to use his shadow abilities. Xan doesn't care what the other dragons think of him, but he always finds friendship among the Metallic Twins.

"Still trying to outrun him, Metallica?" Xandalore appeared out of nowhere, his favorite trick.

"Xan, I hate it when you show up out of nowhere," she grumbled at him, making him chuckle.

"It comes in handy, especially when Terradore wants me to gather recon information."

"Since when did Terradore even consider using a dragon of your..." Xandalore gave Rusty a stern look as the dark silver dragon tried to find the right word, "...caliber?"

"If you must now," he circled around the two like a slippery shark in the water, "The Council has been hearing rumors that...the Hybrid is coming back here."

Eyes widened at the news, "The Hybrid is coming back!?"

"He found more dragons!?" she asked, nearly grabbing Xandalore by his neck with her claws.

"I don't know. All I know is that he's coming back after a few years of being off the grid."

Rusty and Metallica looked at each other. Without words, the two knew exactly what to do. "We need to tell the Elders."

"Agreed."

"I was just about to do so, until I saw your little stunt," the black dragon pointed at Rusty, who only shrugged.

The trio of dragons rushed over towards the Council's temple, where the three remaining Elders stayed. After Ignitus' death, the Elemental Guardians felt it would be a good time to train their new replacements. The only one that didn't get their special training was, in fact, the next Fire Guardian, Cenderata, the first ever female to even consider the power of an Elemental Guardian.

The orange-scaled dragoness was looking over the garden, trying to be at peace and feel the fire within her. However, wen she heard three rushing sets of claws storming towards her, she sighed, "Where's the fire?"

"Funny, funny, ha ha," Xandalore mock-laughed, "Cenderata, we need to talk to the Guardians, now."

"No can do, Xandor."

"My name is Xandalore!"

"Whatever," she muttered, "And I see you brought the steel workers with you as well."

"Why must you hate us," Rusty muttered, "We help mend your armor."

"Correct, but it's rebellious dragons like you that don't follow the elemental codes."

Metallica sighed, "It's useless trying to talk to her, Rusty. She doesn't understand the power we hold over forging and shaping~"

Her tail curled, "How dare you!"

"Also, you better remember Xandalore's name...because he just slipped by you~"

She gasped and looked around for the black dragon that she was just addressing a moment ago. He was long gone, as if he wasn't even there in the first place. "You little sneak!"

"I miss Ignitus," Rusty told Metallica, "He was such a great Guardian. No wonder the Dragon of Legend favored him as a mentor."

"Agreed," she nodded, "I don't think anyone can ever replace that wise dragon."

Cenderata growled, "I will be greater than Ignitus! I will make him proud to be his successor!"

Rusty chuckled and smirked at her, "We'll see. Now, if you'll excuse us~" the two Steel dragons walked past the fuming fire dragoness and ran into the Temple.

Entering the training room, they were greeted by Volteer, the Electric Guardian, "Well, I didn't expect such a large party to show up today! Sadly, it is not under the best of times, but I guess it would be vital for my successor, Arrest to have strong connection with the Steel workers that will mend his war armor whenever we are pillaged by war once more. But, let's hope it won't be for another..."

"Nice to see you too, Volteer," Rusty cut him off, "Do you know where Xandalore may have disappeared to?"

"Oh, of course! He's with Terradore, no doubt explaining the results of his recon. I will be the first to admit that I underestimate the power of a Black dragon who can use his shadows as second nature. What power, but with that being said, we must also monitor his growth and influence so he won't turn against us later on down the line."

"I know how to fix that!" Metallica told him, "Just treat him like a dragon and not an inferior creature."

"Quite right!" he nodded, "You're quite wise, young one."

"Wisdom is experience, right?"

"Indeed..." then Volteer finally understood what she meant by that, "Oh."

"Look at what you did. You made him sad," Rusty gently nudged her. "Apologize."

"No, no, young one," Volteer waved his claw, "It is true that we as a community are guilty of singling out a single type of color, based on being 'unnatural'. But please be aware, as a Guardian, I remain to be very open-minded and very accepting of things, so seeing you two and Xandalore work so well, I knew for a fact, you young dragons will fit in this community in no time."

Rusty and Metallica nodded in response, knowing Volteer will never be the first one to call them out for being different. As they walked towards the back gardens, they finally saw the massive Earth dragon, looking down at young Xandalore, standing on his hind legs and acting out what he saw, using his claws as tools. Terradore grunted and nodded, "Very well. You've done a great deed, young one. We shall await for his arrival."

"How long do you think that will take?" Rusty whispered at Metallica.

"Knowing how quickly dragons can move," Terradore's apprentice, Tonic answered for her, "Give it an hour...at most. If he's already in the Valley of Avalor, then easily in the next 30 minutes."

She nodded, "Thanks, Tonic. Hard at training?"

"I will be. Terradore has been busy with the city's demons, but I don't hold a grudge about it. If anything, this gives me a chance to read more books and acquire more book smarts," the dark green dragon answered.

"Ok, we better go be the welcome party," Metallica began to prance in place, getting very excited to meet the Hybrid, "Why do they call him the Hybrid anyway?"

Tonic frowned, "You truly don't know?"

"No."

Rusty looked at her, "He bought armor from us!"

"He did!?" she yelped, her claws pressing against her head in panic and shock. "Damnit! Curse my bad memory!"

"Well, to be fair, he didn't introduce himself as the Hybrid. He just wore a long cloak and asked for medium sized armor, light protection."

"Oh, right...I remember making that armor," Metallica pouted, "Weird how it was light protection..."

"Most likely to avoid cumbersome moments," Tonic explained, "If caught in a trap or attacked, armor can weigh you down, especially if one is very tired or worn out."

"I guess that makes sense," she muttered.

Suddenly, Cenderata rushed in, yelping, "Terrador! He's here!"

There was a massive crowd at the gate, seeing the heavily armored dragon. He kept his head down, walking weakly through the crowd the best he could.

There was a great murmur among the other dragons, but what Metallica and Rusty failed to see was why.

Terrodor growled as he barked, "Clear a path! Clear it!" Cyril and Volteer helped with the crowd control, while their mini-mes helped by fanning him off with their small wings. Cyril's apprentice, Frigar did one better and lightly breathed ice in his path. He moaned and shook a bit, welcoming the cool feeling.

"Allow us to get the Steel workers to remove your armor, Hybrid," Terrador offered.

The only answer was a growl.

"Hybrid?" Volteer asked, a bit confused.

"Allow me to give you the news that I've found...then I will remove my armor," he spoke hoarsely.

Terradore thought about it for a moment, but had no reason to deny him. With a nod, he stated, "Very well. What did you find?"

"I found...the purple dragon," he answered.

The whole crowd gasped and like a firecracker, blew up into conversations among themselves, creating a massive headache for the Hybrid.

Terrador saw the dragon's discomfort and ushered him in the direction of the Temple. "Let's discuss this further in private."

"Very well."

Volteer quickly ushered Rusty and Metallica as well as he gathered up the young successors. "Come along now. Come along! We have much to discuss and discover!

In the reflecting room, Hybrid sighed as he looked at his audience. "Terrador, I appreciate your help."

"This is a hot button topic, Hybrid," he explained, "If anything, you may have just caused a riot to break out."

"I refuse to sugarcoat the truth. I made contact with Spyro," he replied.

As he and Terrador spoke back and forth, Rusty and Xandalore were talking among themselves, wondering if Spyro was truly alive. Metallica, on the other claw, was focused on Hybrid. His armor was in very bad shape. His whole body was covered in the armor, bracers protecting his forearms and legs. A long and flexible coil was around his tail, barely protecting it but was flexible enough to move and whip without a metal hindrance.

What she truly started to notice, was his color.

On his right side, he had dark blue limbs and red claws. But, on his left side, the color was reversed, dark red with blue claws. The horn on his right side was green and the one of his left was orange. What kind of dragon was he?

"Thank you for all of your hard work. Your mission has been proven to be successful," the Earth dragon smiled, as if a great pressure has been lifted from his shoulders and he was able to breathe again. "Now, about your armor..."

"Oh, right..." Hybrid muttered and with a hard shake, most of it came right off of his body.

Standing before them was indeed, a hybrid dragon. The right side of his body dark blue and the left side a dark red. The trio of young dragons never seen this before in their lives, shocked and speechless.

"Yeah, sorry about the armor," he told Rusty, "It saved my tail many times, but it's barely usable now. Thanks for keep me alive."

"N-No problem," he answered.

Without another word, he nodded and walked out, leaving Metallica literally craving for more about him. Why is he two different colors? Why was he on this mission for so long? What will he do now? Will he leave again? What element or elements can he control? What is he like in a fight? Is he always so blunt and a little unapproachable? Questions upon questions piled on inside her skull. She needs to figure it out more about him.

Why?

Well, that's her ultimate question.

"Move along, hybrid," an older dragon sneered at Hybrid as he walked down the street. Metallica, who was getting lunch for her and Rusty, saw the hateful exchange. Well, Hybrid didn't exchange anything, other than a very sharp glare with his mixed-matched eyes of yellow and green.

"Hey!" she tried to not act like an idiot, just calling out to him out of the blue. To her amazement, he stopped and looked at her.

"Oh, hey," he replied, walking over, meeting her half-way, "You're one of the Steel workers, right?"

"One of the two, yeah," she blushed a bit, finally getting a chance to see him up close and personal. She couldn't describe it, but she could almost feel his power swirling around him.

He stated, "Sorry for butching your hard work. It did help me in the long run."

"Oh, I'm not worried about the armor," she waved her claws at back and forth for reassurance, "I'm just glad it did it's job properly in keeping you safe."

He chuckled a bit, "Glad to see someone else who feels that way."

She smiled, but then she realized that the conversation stopped. She gulped, racking her skull to think of anything to keep him talking.

Thankfully, he saved her the trouble, "Heading back to the shop?"

"Yes!" she said excitedly, but then calmed down, "Yeah. Wanna tag along? I'm sure my brother would like to see how you're doing too."

"Sure," he nodded, taking her side as they walked shoulder to shoulder. Metallica was starting to feel very warm being next to him. Was it hot outside? Not by much. A typical spring noon. It's not too hot at all. So why is she feeling like she's going to collapse over the heat that she can only feel?

As they walked, moles and dragons mingled as a regular day would go by. However, as the two walked by, a few threw a few rotten chose words towards the bi-colored dragon.

The most toxic were, in fact, "outsider" and "dragon that should never be born."

Metallica, who is infamous for her very fiery temper (despite her not being a fire dragon naturally), she was about to snarl and snap at whoever spoke ill to him.

However, as if he could read her mind, he stopped her, "It's ok. Just ignore it."

"But, how...?"

"Imagine their words being rain drops. All they'll do is make you wet, but they won't harm you. In fact, they'll just roll off your scales."

"You are rather wise for a dragon of your age," she smiled, pleasantly shocked at his reaction.

He laughed heartily, "Don't make me sound like I'm an Elder already! I'm only one season ahead of you!" He stood up on his hind legs quickly and had to placed one claw on his maw and one on his chest plate, "I needed a good laugh. Thank you for that."

Metallica didn't know what to think at first, but she rushed up to keep up with his sudden two-legged pace, "You're welcome. Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot," he nodded.

"Why are you standing on two legs?" she cocked an eyebrow, never really seeing it done before, except for a very short burst of height.

"Oh, sometimes it's easily to use my claws to be expressive. Plus, in my travels, sometimes one must use a bipedal approach in order to gain someone favor. Trust me, it's a long story."

"Oh, ok."

"Just like my color, every dragon likes to give me slack for this little skill as well," he shrugged his shoulders as he threw a thumb claw off to the side, almost how a cheetah would do it.

"Wow, that's just so cool."

"You're easily impressed," he joked softly as they finally approached the shop. Hybrid stepped back and allowed his front claws to crash back down onto the ground, with a gentle huff escaping his maw. "Oh, I forgot to ask for your name."

She blushed, "Oh right, Hyrbid! Sorry, I should've introduced myself properly."

"Oh, that's not my true name," he stated as she opened the shop's door.

"Oh?" her green eyes widening with curiosity, "Then what is your real name?"

"By the Anscestors!" Rusty barked as he stormed over, "I thought you got into another fight again! If my food got cool, I'm going to be very steamed!"

"Hey, not to worry about that," Hybrid chuckled, "I can help with that if that's the case."

"Oh, hey," Rusty finally acknowledged his presence, "Sorry for witnessing my little outburst. My sister is notourious for upsetting the wrong dragons."

"Oh, I witnessed only a tip of what that rage can be on the way here. Nothing to worry about."

"By the way, name's Rusty," the dark silver dragon raised his claw to him, who gladly accepted it.

"Nice to finally peg a name on the dragon who shaped my armor." Then he turned to Metallica, "And yours?"

Her light-silver scales suddenly turned a bright pinkish color, making him cock an eyebrow a bit, but wasn't too worried about it. "It's Metallica."

"Metallica," he spoke her name, nearly making her weak in the knees and would need to hover above ground to stay upright. "Well, my real name is Spectrum."

"Spectrum. Cool name."

"Well, it's kinda dorky and only describes what I have in my blood: fire and ice."

Rusty looked up, "Both fire and ice!? How is that possible?"

"It's rather simple, much to every-dragon's stigma about it," he pointed out. "My father was a fire dragon and my mother was an ice dragoness. Just a night of fooling around turned into me being an egg. My mother wanted me to be with my father, but he still disowns me for not being a pureblood, like he thought. When it comes to mixed-elemental bloods, there's a certain ratio of how much shows of each. My rotten luck revealed both equally, with my bi-colored scales acting like some sort of brand that I'm a mix-blood."

"Wow, this lunch is far more broody than usual," Xandalore suddenly spoke up, sitting next to Rusty, who finally got his food and gobbled on a lamb leg.

"Ah, the gold-hearted black spy," Spectrum smiled, "How long have you been here?"

"Since the 'kinda dorky name' part," he stated, "It's Xandalore, by the way."

"Now that's a cool name."

As the dragons talked and ate together, Spectrum seemed very happy, or at the very least, comfortable with being in their company. Granted, all three of them are outcasts and are looked down upon by the other dragons, so they can't help him with his mixed-blood status, but from the way the topic barely fazes him, he didn't care at all.

Metallica didn't know why, but she found herself smiling more and more whenever Spectrum talked or expressed himself. The mixed-blood dragon seemed to have a very tough time trying to even be looked at without disgust, but yet he doesn't let it faze him. He developed some very tough scales...so to speak.

However, that made her realize something about him: he can be cynical to the way society is run. Being a mixed-blood dragon means he has no respect from the pure bloods and is looked down upon him since his birth. He may be tolerant of it now, but will it remain that way into his adult life?

Metallica is on her way to being that cynic dragoness. Will Spectrum do the same? Or will he take the road less traveled and just accept it?

Seeing that dragon have the strength to ignore what the others say was a lot like looking up to a hero.

She felt a sweet smile spread across her maw at him, which he caught this time. Oddly, he chuckled softly, scratching his neck crests, "Why are you smiling at me like that?"

"I like you, Spectrum. You are a dragon I hope to be when I get older."

"We'll see what happens in the future if that's true."

Spectrum screamed loudly as his right claw quickly pressed against his green eye, forcing himself to resort to fighting on his hind legs. With a vicious snarl, his remaining eye narrowed at his opponents: a swarm of wolf-like creatures, hell-bent on dragon blood.

With a snarl, he exhaled fire from his maw, roasting the first row of creatures rushing towards him. The howls of agony were deafening, but he ignored them as he rushed towards the back line, ice within his remaining claw and sliced one in half with his ice-shard sharp claws.

One jumped onto his back, forcing him to yowl and tried to buck it off of him. It sank into teeth into his neck, making him screech.

Suddenly, at the sound of a mini-cannon, the creature that was winning the fight suddenly went limp off his body. "Huh?!"

"Spectrum!" a familiar female voice called form behind him. Spinning around his remaining eye widened to see an older and far stronger Metallica. She still held her chick-like body type, but she's clearly getting those feminine curves that every female dragon tends to develop when they get older. "Are you ok?"

"I am now. Thanks for that," he stated, knowing that shot sound came from her bullet blast, her metal elemental breath. He saw a similar type of breath with some Earth dragons, but with pebbles and bits of rock. Metal is far more devastating, in his opinion.

"Need some help?" she asked, walking to his side and saw the remaining group of wolf-like beasts about to pounce again.

"If you're not busy at all."

She smirked with a giant inhale, she exhaled massive shards of metal at such high velocity that it ripped flesh to shreds and splashed massive quantities of blood onto the grass and dirt.

"Wow," he whistled at the carnage he could not believe just ended as fast as it began. "I might have to ask Rusty what he did to make you this warrior."

She blushed a little, "I just wanted to make my hero proud."

"Oh?" he cocked an eyebrow, "Who's your hero?"

"Y-You are..."

It was his turn to blush a little. "Oh, uhh...I didn't know."

"What happened to your eye?" she asked, standing up on her own hind legs, gently removing his claw away, seeing a two-clawed scratch crossing down his eye, blood leaking into his eye, making him constantly closing it. "Ow..."

"Yeah...it hurts," he muttered.

"Why not cauterize it with your fire?" she suggested.

"I was about to do that when I was in a safe place first. We can still be attacked here. Follow me."

She nodded as she let his claw go. Falling down on his front claws, Spectrum thrusted his wings up and jumped into the air, taking flight. Metallica followed, staying on his left side, so he can see her, while his right eye was temporary blinded.

Despite him being half-blind, Spectrum seemed to know where he was going, flying deep into the mountains that bordered Avalor. Cutting through the cliff sides and rocky terrain, even for a one-eyed dragon, the bi-colored dragon flew through it all with literally no sweat.

Metallica had to back up a bit to avoid crashing into him, but was decent enough in her flight skills to keep up with him without a lot of trouble. As she watched him flying, she couldn't help but think to herself, _He got bigger and stronger since we saw him last_.

Flying straight into a waterfall, Spectrum landed on the rocky surface that greeted him first, but quickly moved out of the way so Metallica can land safely. As she flew through the waterfall, she retched as she shook all of the water off, "I know we are able to swim, but the feeling of water never sat well with me and Rusty. Maybe because we're Metal dragons."

"Metal rusts and corrodes when wet for a long period of time. I can understand why you hate it so much," he stated, walking deeper into the cave, exhaling fire forward. A few unlit torches caught the flames and led the way. "Follow me."

"Been doing that. Never stopped," she commented as she followed behind him.

He chuckled as he walked, "You're still that fireball at the market from all those years ago. Where did the time go?"

"I don't know. We started growing up and facing the world's many problems," she replied, barely able to not stare at him as he walked. The way his strong tail swayed and how his strong back stride kept him slightly faster than her.

"Well, hopefully, my mission won't be for nothing. Remember years ago when you guys first knew me? Do you remember what that mission was for?"

"To locate the purple dragon?"

"Well, not exactly. My goal was to find more dragons that scattered around the world during Malefor's war. Yes, I did succeed in my mission, with the purple dragon being that sweet bonus that sealed my accomplishment. However, because he respected his privacy and didn't want to return to Warfang...at least for now, I became the personal messenger between him and the Guardians. Dangerous job, but it pays well."

"And it does a number on you," she pointed out.

"I do look older than I am, yes, but that's all and good. Most females don't look my way anyway."

"You dense mother fucker..." she muttered to herself, almost silent so he wouldn't pick it up.

"Anyway, I'm here on a special mission." As he said that, he stopped in a round room. With a deep breath, he exhaled fire all around the outer wall, lighting the torches with ease. As the room lit up, Metallica gasped at sight before her.

The room was covered in dragon eggs of all colors of the rainbow. Even a few of abnormal colors, like Metallica's silver scales. She even saw one or two eggs with two colors blending perfectly. "Spectrum..."

|That's right. I'm here to escort these eggs to Warfang, where they can hatch and live a normal life. The parents of these eggs will be migrating soon back to the city. The city is almost back to normal, correct?"

"Yeah. All of the damages have been repaired. Rusty and I were huge helpers in keeping it together through steel."

"Good work. It's because of your hard work, the dragons that felt homeless will be able to regain their lives before Malefor destroyed them. Thank you."

"Stop thanking me for my work," she blushed, "You're making me smile..."

He smiled back, "I remember those years ago that you said that you like me."

"Yeah? What about it?" she asked.

"It was the first time anyone ever told me anything that emotional towards me. Oh, it also reminded me."

"What?" she asked.

He smiled at her, "I like you too, Metallica."

She blushed madly and looked down at the egg nest, while Spectrum quickly fixed his eye and neck with his fire claws. With a growl of pain, he opened his eye, revealing a long scar from his eyebrow, all the way down over his eye and finally ending at his high cheek bone. Metallica asked, "Can you see now?"

"Somewhat," he answered, "Just give me an moment and I will be right as rain."

"Ok." She looked back at the eggs and sighed softly, "Most dragons are lucky."

"How so?" he asked, hoping to spark conversation.

She replied, "Most dragoness' meet their mates in this stage of life. By the time they are adults, they've at least had two eggs, three if they started early enough. I've seen every dragon, of every color pair up with one of the same color. Rusty said to me one day 'Don't let your color get you down. Pass down our metal skills to the next generation. Having one element is overrated anyway.'"

Spectrum laughed, "I love your brother."

She smiled, "Yeah. I love him too. He's madly in love with a golden dragoness named Aurelius, but he keeps getting shot down. Despite her not wanting to do anything with him, Rusty still keeps going, saying, 'If I have to spend the rest of my life hunting her down until she loves me, then so be it'."

"What's up with Xandalore?" he asked.

She explained, "He and the next Fire Guardian, Cenderata, accidentally fell in love, but she cannot have a mate. It's forbidden to becoming a Guardian."

"That's rather messed up," Spectrum yawned softly. "You would assume they would rid of those laws because we have small numbers in the city right now."

"Sadly, not, I'm afraid. Maybe later on, they will rid of that rule, but until then, she cannot love Xandalore. He continues to say, 'I don't care if I have to wait until the next purple dragon comes around, I will wait for her.'"

The bi-colored dragon smiled, "Nice to know those two will be strong for their mates. But this leaves the question: what about you?"

"I will remain in the armory and continue shaping armor. If a new war breaks out, I'll be the first in line to fight," she sighed softly, "I want to show the rest of the world that we Metal dragons can be just as powerful, if not more powerful, than a traditional pure-blood." Realizing the topic got too dark, she cleared her throat and asked, "How are we going to escort these eggs?"

"Easy. This cave has a network of tunnels and caves that can lead us back to Warfang with very little effort. As for transporting them, we have a small cart that one of us will get hitched to and carry them that way."

"Sounds good to me."

"Hey, Metallica," he walked over to her and asked, "After this mission is over, want to hang out with me?"

She beamed at him, "I thought you'd never ask." He smiled back, his beautiful green and yellow eyes shining against the fire around them.

Metallica walked into the harness of the cart, feeling Spectrum's strong claws fasten up the straps and making her blush. "Can you still move?"

With a gentle wiggle, she nodded, "Yeah."

"Ok then. I will lead the way and you stay close to me. If anything happens, grab my tail."

"Will do," she smiled.

He smiled back, seeing her smile being very contagious. Making sure all of the eggs were safe and not moving around too much, he walked up in front of her and nodded, urging her forward. Metallica, as gentle as she could, walked forward, feeling the cart move and creak behind her. With the cart moving with her, Spectrum and Metallica were well on their way to delivering the eggs to Warfang.

As dark and creepy as the caves were, Metallica can admit, at least they were safe for their treading. Not once had they been attacked or ambushed, which surprised her. Spectrum chuckled as if he could read her mind, again, "I cleared out the caves ahead of time. Plus, I marked the path so I wouldn't get lost. I'm actually quite glad you came to my rescue. I was dead exhausted after all of that work and those creatures ambushed me. You saved my life and the lives of all of these eggs behind you. You are a hero."

Metallica whimpered, "Stop it, Spectrum, you're making me blush!"

He chuckled, "But it's true. When those eggs hatch, you can tell them that you were the one who brought them home."

Metallica wanted to reach out and swat at him to stop talking, but she knew that will not help her in the slightest. If anything it would make it worse, encouraging him to keep going. "Yeah, like they'll believe that. A Metal dragoness protecting dragon eggs."

"I will know the truth. Rusty will know as well. The Guardians too."

"Oh, can you shut up about it please?"

"Very well. Despite your fiery attitude, you are very humble."

"I tend to stay out of the spotlight when needed. I can fight for my color's right to the stars and back, but I can't imagine my image being of a heroic status."

"Well, that's a shame. You saved me. You're my hero," he grinned, winking at her.

She smiled a bit, but still blushed heavily. "Why must you make me say things I didn't want you to hear?"

"Like what?"

"Despite all of these years of your absence, I still like you, Spectrum."

He stopped suddenly, causing Metallica to crash into his rear. With a grunt, he turned to her and smiled, "I like you. A lot. I never thought I'd ever find a dragoness who would like me, even as a friend. But you came along and told me the words I needed to hear all my life of constant hatred and disgust. You not only saved me physically, you saved my broken soul."

She smiled at him, "I'm glad I can save you. I don't what I'd do without you now. Even as a friend."

Spectrum smiled at her, walking towards the light at the end of the tunnel they've been walking down for a few hours without rest. As the light shined down upon them, they knew it wasn't just the sun lighting the way. It was the light of hope to bring back what has been lost in the darkness.

It was the beginning of a new era and the start of a new love between two dragons that would never find it, but will find it within each other.

Rule of Love:

Smiling at Each Other = I like you

January 2017


End file.
